The UN radio in South Sudan has corrected a report that falsely stated that Radio Tamazuj took part in a series of reporting errors that took place in sections of the South Sudanese media last week.
The error, published by Sudan Tribune and others, was that the Council of Minister had formed a committee to deal with the issue of 28 states. Officials have said that the Transitional Government of National Unity will discuss the issue of 28 states, but have not formed a specific committe for that purposes. The inaccurate reporting prompted statements of concern from the Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro.
Following a press conference by the cabinet minister, Radio Miraya last Thursday published an article saying that Radio Tamazuj reported that “the council had formed a committee to resolve the issue of the 28 states.” No such report was ever broadcast or published by Radio Tamazuj.
Several media houses including Miraya FM also stated that Lomuro threatened a lawsuit against Radio Tamazuj, which is also not true. The cabinet minister specfically blamed Juba Monitor and Sudan Tribune for what he called false reports, while mentioning Radio Tamazuj only incidentally.
In a statement of correction, the UN radio station stated, “Radio Miraya would like to clarify that the Minister castigated other sections of the media for reportedly publishing the said story and not Radio Tamazuj as earlier reported. We regret any confusion.” Separately, the radio station also broadcast notices of correction on its weekend weekly news wrap-up on 28 and 29 May, according to one of the radio station’s staff members.
One UN radio official, in an email to Radio Tamazuj, regretted the report saying that he hopes the two radio stations will continue to build on collegial relations.